4.6.33 7.10.2022 Honoring Parents Exodus 20.12

Start

Entice: The commandment we study today would seem to be a simple as it gets. Except it is hard and humans have seemingly always rebelled against it.

Exodus 20:12 ESV

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Engage: This command is a transition. It reinforces the ideas of faithfulness and community in our relationship with God and within the human community. It is the foundation to all human relationships. By the time we get to Deuteronomy the reminder is subtly different from the first giving. Why I wonder? Was the next generation already losing contact with their parents vision and values for the world? Isn't that what happens to every new generation? Perhaps. Maybe that is why we must be ever diligent to build this important foundation for culture and church.

Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV

16 “ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Expand:

Society was different then.

Patriarchal, multi-generational families were the norm. In the same house multiple generations lived and worked together. It did not matter how old you were, you were still subject to the patriarch of the family. Our society now revolves around a narrowly defined nuclear family unit. The underlying principle does not change.

What about a child who wished to become a Christian whose parents oppose the decision? Consistency in obedience, maturity in behavior, and agency in decision will generally make the case. When the choice seems disobedient, immature, and confrontational the child is not likely making the decision with correct motives. Either way the parent is responsible in those circumstances. When the child is able to make an adult decision with well-considered agency then it is another matter. (again, this generally an exceptional set of circumstances.)

Excite: The 5th commandment, though simply written has profound theological intent. In the home we first experience parental love and affirmation which should then introduce us to the Fatherly love of God. Each party has specific responsibilities.

Explore:

Obeying our parents teaches us both how to submit to authority and how to exercise it.

Explain: As simple as it may be the fifth commandment is one of the central foundations to order. As Moses states it and as the New Testament interprets and applies it it has four functions.

Body of Sermon: First, it is a

1.Command with a purpose

Matthew 15:4–8 ESV

For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

Maintain and care for parents in old age.

Connect generations.

Next it is a

2. Command that is proper.

Ephesians 6:1 ESV

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Two comments...Paul seems to see this command as pretty much universal His use of term right seems absolute and unqualified. He does not have certain things in mind. It is, as a general rule, right to be obedient to one's parents.

Yes, there are exceptional situations where the parents do not seem to take into account the needs of the child(ren). It is a basic principle that interpreting the obvious and easy in light of the hard and rare is poor hermeneutics.

As Paul puts it there is no real room for cultural or social exceptions.

Again, We should not focus too much on outlier expectations either culturally conditioned or formed by the sinful behaviors of the few. The basic principle is that it is right and proper for children to obey their parents...

Next it is a

3. Command with a promise.

Ephesians 6:2–3 ESV

2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Longevity.

Stability.

Finally, it is a

4. Command that is pleasing

To whom? GOD!

Colossians 3:20 ESV

20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Again, here is a basic underlying principle. If you wish to please God, do what pleases Him. If you want to honor God, obey the scriptures. If you want to find favor with God, become the kind of person who understands and pursues what brings favor.

Shut Down:

The fallen world is a harsh environment. Not every parent is ideal. Not every home is happy. Not every nest secure. In our age, wealth and privilege have eroded the bond between parents and children even more.

In the odd way that we do, we have decided that this makes things harder. In an objective sense virtually all of life is easier. Even honoring our mother and father. The real impediment is the one that has always been there. Sin.

If we cannot or will not obey our parents in small things how can we obey God when spiritual demands increase? If we won't honor parents whom we see how can we honor God whom we do not see? Faithfulness increases faithfulness. Resistance increases resistance. Sin tends to make more sin. This is a simple command. If we cannot keep it, what of the more difficult tasks of faith?